Has anybody read The Fountainhead? I just finished it and I’m not entirely sure I got the point lol. Thoughts?
Has anybody read The Fountainhead? I just finished it and I’m not entirely sure I got the point lol. Thoughts?
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Read years ago and the word bombastic comes to mind. So many complicated passages, and I kept thinking, was it all necessary? Maybe I was not ready for her brilliance.
Well I felt that way too! There was an awful lot that just didn’t seem to really matter in the end. Maybe I wasn’t ready either lol!
You know Ayn Rand was atheist. So don’t feel bad if you don’t get it.
Ok thanks! ?
Yeah . I cannot get beyond her rabid atheism
I like Atlas Shrugged – could not finish Fountainhead
This was my first time reading Rand. I didn’t hate it or anything, so maybe I’ll try something else by her eventually.
Atlas Shrugged was first book I think Foutainhead was after it. But it has been years
I’m an atheist too and have issues with Rand. 12 publishers rejected the manuscript before an editor risked his job for it. It tends to polarized people. The hero designs modern buildings but is opposed by people who prefer conformity over independence and integrity. Then the story gets a bit muddled with a first sexual encounter that some would call rape. Rand indicated that the primary theme of The Fountainhead was “individualism versus collectivism, not in politics but within a man’s soul”. Maybe, I found it boring.
The foreword kept talking about a “true hero” and I couldn’t figure out whom that was supposed to be. It seemed crazy that the hero would be a rapist (I felt it was rape). I imagine it was a very controversial book back then. Still is, I guess.
Think his name was Howard. A good debater could poke holes in her philosophy.
Hmmm…there was definitely some theory in there that could be questioned.
As always, I was required to read this tome over the weekend for 10th grade English. Good grief, it’s a long book. I used to know the answer to your question, but it is lost for now.
I understand lol. It is a long book. You’d need more than a weekend to finish it lol, or I would.
I loved the movie but have never read the book.
Oh there’s a movie?! Wow! You might really like the book then. It’s pretty easy to read and I found it interesting. I just didn’t really get the full point of the story.
@Amy it’s a 1949 American made film starring Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal. Saw it several years ago but I have never forgotten it because I really enjoyed it so much! I meant to read the book afterwords but totally forgot. I’ve never read anything by this author and have always thought if I did… It would be the Fountainhead.
@Lynne that sounds really interesting!
I think you have to read it at a certain age. I have friends who loved it when they read it younger. I read it when I was around 30 and I was bored. the writing was insane. I thought character were stereotypes and not real.
Well if that’s true, I’m definitely too old to be reading it now lol.
i think there’s a spirit of rebellion and changing the world that’s there.
@Ashini yes those themes are certainly there.
The main theme is Individualism over Collectivism.
I think you’re right about needing to be a certain age – but I think you need to be a little OLDER, maybe…
Atlas Shrugged is better, a classic, and relevant today!! Great read written by a great mind.
I’m gonna get that one if I ever run across it…
@Amy the library for sure
@Maureen yep. Gotta get that library card.
@Amy, or Amazon used books
@Maureen I get a lot of books at the thrift stores around. The library is a good idea tho.
Agreed!
Couldn’t get into The Fountainhead but I think I need to give it another chance. I did Atlas Shrugged as an audiobook and absolutely loved it! My dogs got extra long walks while I was listening to it because I didn’t want to have to go home and switch it off.
I loved it!
It’s a political commentary on Socialism.
The author had lived in the Soviet Union and was very against all forms of socialism.
Read Altas Shrugged if you want to get a better handle on the themes.
Ayn Rand was a lot more blunt on her political ideology in that one.
She was also a professor of philosophy.
A lot of modern philosophy professors don’t like her, but a lot more of them support socialism now than they did when she wrote her books.
Yes, I have. It’s extremely political.